Has anyone built a pond to kite on?

[shawn13]

My company just finished building a water supply pond in Africa. The pond is 100 m2 and is lined with an hdpe liner for leak protection. My friend is looking a purchasing some field property and we were discussing if it would be possible to build a similar pond like we did in Africa except only 6 to 12 inches deep. It would be similar to the reflection ponds in Washington DC.

Has anyone built a pond or lake to kite on? The benefits are that you can kite in your backyard as not everyone lives near a kite spot, and you can ride on any wind direction.
I am thinking 200m x 200m would be a good size pond for fun.

Thoughts?

[edt]

I will ride anything, any size any time and I have been on natural ponds that size but . . . 200m x 200m is too small. If you want to do any kind of tricks you'll need 800 meters. If you are too limited in size and can't build that big, just my personal opinion, I would build a skateboard ramp there instead.

[KYLakeKiter]

Sounds like a great concept if you've got the land. I think that managing a pond that shallow would be more difficult than making it a few feet deep. Who wouldn't want a body of water (hopefully) with no terrain around it to disrupt wind and 360 degree launch spots. Cool dream.

There is a huge farm near my work, that floods for a month or 2 at a time that I have been eyeballing. It ends up with the same conditions you described for your pond but with 10 to 15 acres of water. The owner has given us permission to kite there next time it floods so maybe later this spring I will get to try it. It will probably look something like this:

http://vimeo.com/m/87549053

without the cool outfit though.

[shawn13]

We aren't so worried about the size for excavating, we could make it longer and deeper, but the main contributing factor is the liner. I sent some queries to some of our suppliers for quotes. The largest rolls they see come 100'x50' so there would have to be seaming involved.

[KYLakeKiter]

I am no expert on pond construction, and it sounds like your company is, but in my area people line there ponds with a specific type of clay. That might solve the liner limitation.

[consumer]

would it be a minor cost to increase the depth of the pond to greater than 6-12inches? It would be nice if it were like 3 feet so you could really throw yourself into it without worried about getting injured.

[shawn13]

I think the liner depends on the application. We are building in a temperate climate and im not sure that his hdpe liner will withstand frost damage. Will inquire about other options like clay thanks!

Another reason for this pond idea is the fact that kiting is starting to get banned and regulated at the local spots. In the future I think there are going to be some serious limitations as the sport becomes more popular here...

[jsquid]

Sounds like a cool idea, but maintaining it could be an issue. I'm in no way educated on the subject of evaporation but with that much surface area isn't evaporation going to be an issue?

Even just getting it filled in the first place might not be easy, even at 200m x 200m and 33cm depth your talking about ~13000 cubic metres of water, hope there is a healthy water source nearby!

[Laughingman]

Sounds like a great concept if you've got the land. I think that managing a pond that shallow would be more difficult than making it a few feet deep. Who wouldn't want a body of water (hopefully) with no terrain around it to disrupt wind and 360 degree launch spots. Cool dream.

There is a huge farm near my work, that floods for a month or 2 at a time that I have been eyeballing. It ends up with the same conditions you described for your pond but with 10 to 15 acres of water. The owner has given us permission to kite there next time it floods so maybe later this spring I will get to try it. It will probably look something like this:

http://vimeo.com/m/87549053

without the cool outfit though.

Lots of fields will be flooding this spring in SWO as well, watching carefully but I certainly would be careful about ingesting any of that water or allowing it into your eyes or ears... Escherichia coli is nasty and with the NA farming practices of spreading liquified manure on most of the fields....ugh...... I've seen a few farmers already spreading the stuff over the winter...

[shawn13]

Sounds like a cool idea, but maintaining it could be an issue. I'm in no way educated on the subject of evaporation but with that much surface area isn't evaporation going to be an issue?

Even just getting it filled in the first place might not be easy, even at 200m x 200m and 33cm depth your talking about ~13000 cubic metres of water, hope there is a healthy water source nearby!

These are valid points to consider! A fresh creek or river nearby would be ideal. My family has some property up north with a natural pond about 200m2 and ill monitor the levels in it throughout the summer. I know it loses water but im not sure how much. Its also surrounded by a wooded area so not kiteable.